Toronto Maple Leafs Mr. Potato Head
It’s not surprising that there is a Maple Leafs banded toy available on the market.
There are many and the sport of hockey is often marketed to children because groups like the NHL recognize that the fandom of youngsters is necessary for the life and longevity of their product. What is surprising is one toy that made it to market.
Sports Spuds put together a special release of a Maple Leafs Mr. Potato Head. Finally, kids were able to do what they had always dreamed. They were able to swap out the face and parts from their hockey playing potato.
This toy came with removable and replaceable arms, an additional hockey stick, a helmet, skates, and even a mouth, complete with a missing tooth. It was a nice touch by the creators. The children who sit to play with the toy had the option on deciding whether their spud was playing a game with stick in hand or was out for the evening with their potato date, wearing their false teeth.
The original Mr. Potato Head was invented by George Lerner, an artist, graphic designer, and model maker.
He came up with and designed the original concept for the toy. Three years later, in 1952 Hasbro began distributing the ready for market toy.
Mr. Potato Head has taken on other partners since then such as Playskool, but was never officially sold by Sports Spuds. It does bring into question whether the Toronto Maple Leafs or NHL had any knowledge or provided the rights to Sports Spuds for their version of the toy.